Lady Owls edge Coffee County for state berth

In a softball game in which the teams appear about as equal as possible, great execution here and there is often the deciding factor. And it was Friday at Ooltewah.

Ooltewah and Coffee County each got a standout pitching performance and played without an error in their TSSAA Class AAA state sectional. Each team also hit one home run, but only the host Lady Owls are moving on to the state tournament in Murfreesboro after defeating the Lady Raiders 2-1.

Ooltewah (38-8) will be making its first state-tournament appearance since 2008, when the Lady Owls played in the seventh state final in school history and won their fourth title.

"It just means a lot," said senior center fielder Allie Jones, who at 2-for-3 was the only player in the game with more than one hit and who also assisted on the defensive play of the game. "I don't want to get emotional, but I think back to when I had the opportunity to start as a freshman and I remember how they all treated me. I feel like this is for those players, too, and for all the teams that played here. This is as much for the legacy."

Haley Hinshaw opened the game with a home run for Coffee County.

"I was a little nervous when I saw that the second pitch of the game went about 210 feet," Ooltewah coach Jon Massey said.

The pitch came from freshman right-hander Kayla Boseman, who limited the Lady Raiders to two hits the rest of the way.

"She battled," Massey said. "She battled hard, which is what she always does."

When the Lady Owls came to bat for the first time, leadoff batter Tiera Lemon put up a fierce battle, fouling off several pitches, before drawing what ended up being the only walk allowed by Southern Illinois signee Brianna Jones. Two outs later, Boseman, who said giving up the home run got her attention, lined a pitch out of the park in left.

"I was thinking, 'I've got to get my payback,'" Boseman said.

Boseman's only walk was to Tori Bell leading off the seventh, but the Lady Raiders could not advance her.

Their best chance to tie came in the third when Taylor Barnes led off with a double. After a sacrifice bunt, Hinshaw flied to center, where Allie Jones made the catch and threw strongly to catcher Marissa Forrester, who applied the tag on Barnes sliding at the plate.

"That ball seemed like it took forever to come down," said Jones, who has signed with Lincoln Memorial. "I just tried to set my feet and throw it home and hope for the best."

The loss marks the end of Brianna Jones' prep career, which included surpassing 1,000 career strikeouts early this season. She had 10 against the Lady Owls while giving up four hits.

"She broke all kinds of records, even some national ones," Coffee County coach Terry Floyd said. "The great thing about her is that she's a humble kid,"

Boseman ended up with eight strikeouts.

"I really never pictured doing this as a freshman," Boseman said. "I'm going to try to take my team as far as I can, and I know they've got my back, too."

Coffee County ends its season 30-8.

"We could play this same game tomorrow and it might turn out different. Or it might turn out the same. Tonight just wasn't our night," Floyd said. "We had a very good season. This is a great group of young ladies. A lot of teams have drama. I can say this year we did not have one bit of drama the entire season."

Contact Kelley Smiddie at sports@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.

Upcoming Events